Constant Communication isn’t Change
You know everyone wants to improve everything. It’s not something that has be said over and over, and saying something like that would for every class because some folks were yearning for attention from “mum and pop” dev would cause the words to lose value faster than a used car.
I think the devs are fairly on the beat about reading a lot of feedback. I think getting directed feedback on the forums for a discussion would be an extraordinary luxury, and one that has been fraught with issues in the past. It is a generous thing when a developer sits down to be picked apart, even in part these days, as proven by past years.
BUT I know, I said that the devs provide a little and it bites them as it gets taken apart, but … I like to think about the insights as they apply to my own and other classes as general principles. Classes are not directly interchangeable, for sure, but the principles still apply generally as we’re mostly looking for many of the same outcomes and are seeing the same obstacles as players. Taking the rationale and applying it to our own
Which is to say
Communications are there
I think the very tempered developer insights have been pretty good.
Actions have been rather Loud
We’ve seen a lot of push and pull since the release of Dragonflight so far. Even with the simple change to Mana Spring in the last week. The AoE changes have been pretty significant between Chain Lightning and Flameshock’s improved damage for Elemental. They are acknowledging a lot of the feedback by making changes, which have included shaman, even if it has been small or unceremoniously so. Unleashed Shield, Static Field Totem, plenty of talents and abilities have undergone adjustments or review in the PTR and made their way to live.
The Dream of patch x.1.5 or Sooner
I certainly feel like improvements can be made to the way the class plays across the entire spectrum, from build viability to enhancement survivability to restoration expedience and more, I think we’re kind of seeing class reviews that are similar to what we’ve seen in the past. We see it with the relatively dramatic changes with Druid’s class tree. Which is to say
We kind of have to wait our turn, and it’d probably be in on the X.1.5 time frame. Druids have always been the first child. We’ve always been the last child. (a little hyperbole)
Improved Feedback from Players too
Mainly, I think it’s best if the ideas were presented as numbers, with distinctive or actionable changes supported as such. Issue followed by support, and maybe even followed by proposed solution is alays be a better way to start a discussion.
Examples:
“My AoE is low, consistently, I can see it in my meters every time by 10k but we’re the same ilvl”
“These builds are janky and optimization would lead me to never take this talent because it’s clearly and always 5% less than the other for ST/AoE/Short/Long fights”
“I had to be sat because I’m not bringing MotW for that extra 3% per head”
“Earthquake’s visual causes my Tanks to be scared and I lose dps”
Are always better than “My spec feels bad”, “We’re doing bad in a few categories”, “We need help/work/rework”